


Good Night, Sweet Prince - 01-13-16

by BardicRaven



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Angst, Animal Transformation, CIRCLE OF LIFE, David Bowie Tribute, F/M, Illnesses, Loving Marriage, Marriage, Owls, References to Illness, Shapeshifting, Terminal Illnesses, Tissue Warning, Transformation, Tributes, letting go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 10:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5781787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah and Jareth have had a lifetime of happiness together.<br/>Now it's time for what's next.</p><p>O>>>-----------> </p><p>Written in honor of a great man who gave us the performance of our Dreams.<br/>And left us far too soon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Night, Sweet Prince - 01-13-16

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rioghna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/gifts).
  * Inspired by [You remind me of the Babe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5715406) by [Rioghna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna). 



> ##### I read my sis-in-spirit's story 'You remind me of the babe' and this is the story that came to me in return.
> 
> ##### Gifted to Rioghna, tho' she may not thank me after reading this.
> 
> **STRONG TISSUE WARNINGS!!!**
> 
> ##### #thatisall
> 
> ##### -B!

Sarah sat next to the bed of her beloved, soothing him as he stirred restlessly in fevered dreams. She wondered why he had done it - given up his immortality for her, paid the price for being mortal, but then, looking back, she knew why. 

They'd had a long life together - happy, for the most part, once they'd both learned a few things and each given up their stubborn pride. He'd needed to learn to ask, not command, and she... well, she'd needed to learn to love. 

He'd taught her that. From the beginning, really, when he, or rather, his goblins, stole Toby at her wish and his command, and their life-long dance together began.

She'd won that round, tho' she'd come to realize later that it was not the complete victory that she'd expected it to be. Much to her surprise, she'd found herself not only missing her friends from the Labyrinth, but also Jareth himself. Her friends, she'd called within weeks. Jareth, it took years before she gathered the courage to call, and then years more before he decided to answer. No, that wasn't true - it had only felt like years before she heard from him. The truth was, with the next full moon, she saw a white owl fluttering against her windowpane. By this time, she was living in her own house, of course, with a good job and a cat to help ease the loneliness she felt, especially at night. But as much as she loved her Toby-Bear, even his golden furr and soothing purr couldn't heal the hole in her heart where an arrogant king had once stood.

No matter how much he tried, and no matter how much she tried to let him.

Her heart leaped now at the sight of the man she'd never expected to see again, and as he morphed into his normal, everyday skin, she grew both more determined and more joyful at the thought that this time, it would be different.

"Why did you call me here?" he'd asked, longing underneath the bitterness. 

She took a deep breath, chose to hear only the longing. "Because I wanted you to come." At his small start of surprise, she held up a hand. "But. There are rules."

"What?" Still proud, still every each the king, albeit of an unruly people who never truly grew up, never grew beyond his care.

"I want you to ask me. Not command me. If we're going to make this work..."

"You presume I still want you." The ice would have staggered a more stalwart heart, but Sarah ignored it, stared back at him just as regally.

"If you didn't, why did you come?" was all she asked. His flinch told her everything she needed to know, everything she'd hoped for, once she was honest enough to allow herself to think it.

His mouth scrunched together angrily. He pushed off from the wall he'd been lounging casually against. "All right!" he snapped. "Yes, I still want you. Have done ever since you came to my kingdom and dared to ask for your brother back. I meant it..." His eyes bored into hers and for a moment, she felt herself grow weak. But only a moment. She wanted to have a lifetime with this man, not a life of servitude where he commanded and she obeyed. She firmed her knees and her spine and continued to regard him calmly, even as he spoke the next words, the ones that melted her heart, even as they stiffened her resolve. "...everything I did, was for you."

"You taught me to love, this is true,” she admitted. “But I've also learned that true love isn't about ownership. It's about partnership.” She paused, regarded him, gauging his reaction. “That's why I asked you to come back - I wanted to see if you'd be interested in that with me." When he kept his peace, she continued softly, “I meant it when I said you have no power over me. But it's also true that you have the power over me that I choose to give you.” A breath, a heartbeat as startled eyes bore into hers. “I won't let you rule me. But I would let you love me. Will you?”

He looked away, thinking. For a long moment, she wondered if she'd lost. Then, she shook her head. No, no matter what his answer, she'd not lose. If he said no, then she was better off without him. If he said yes, then they could try for that life together. 

A long moment, longer than eternities, stretched out between them before he finally said the word that changed both their loves and their lives forever. 

"Yes."

O>>>\-----------> O>>>\----------->

It wasn't perfect of course - they were both strong-willed people, both used to getting their own way. But they fought it out this time instead of running, tried not to make it about power, but keep it about love, and made sure to do their best to respect the other every day. 

Made sure to express their love for each other every day. In as many ways as they could think of - in word, in deed, and in the large bed they shared at night. And slowly, but surely, they created the love that they had both been searching for all their lives.

The day they asked each other to wed was the best day, but far from the only day they spent happy together. Two ceremonies to celebrate two worlds. And also to handle the reality that said that it wasn't time to tell her family who he really was.

So Goblin Castle and human city alike rang with the sounds of their people happiness and they pledged their live to each other, and then they went forth to live their new lives.

O>>>\-----------> O>>>\-----------> O>>>\----------->>

At first, they travelled between the worlds, spent some time in each, did their best to fulfill the obligations of each. Then, after her parents died, and Toby was married with a child of his own, she pulled her brother aside one night and told him the truth.

"There's something I have to tell you." Her brother looked at her with worried eyes. "No." She shook her head. "It's not like that. Or, maybe it is, but..." She shook her head again. "It's about Jareth."

Instantly, Toby went on the alert. "He's not hurting you, is he?" he asked sharply. "If he is, I'll…"

"No." She laid a hand on her brother's arm. "No, it's nothing like that." She took a breath, let it out. "But I still don't know how to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

She walked a few paces away from him, turned, framed in the moonlight that had become her most favorite setting. "Do you remember, when you were a baby?"

He shook his head. "I remember a little. Not much." He spread his hands. "You know, baby?"

She laughed. "Yeah. Well, back then, I did something pretty horrible. I didn't mean it." She considered. "Well, yes, I did. I was so jealous of you. But I didn't think anything would come of it. Really." She looked at her brother, apology in her eyes. "I was just an angry, spoiled child. I didn't really believe he existed."

"Who?" 

"The Goblin King." A soft whisper, flying against the weight of years and guilt.

"What happened?" That was her baby brother - always curious, always concerned.

"He took you. Or rather, his goblins did.” Matter-of-fact, to weigh against the implausibility of what she'd just said.

To her relief, the other thing her brother said was “Why?” 

“You took my bear, my special bear. Well, really, mom and dad gave him to you. You were just a baby. It was just for the night. But he was the _one thing_ I wanted to keep for myself. I had to share everything else with you - their time, their love. All I wanted was my bear. Was it too much to ask?" She asked the years as much as she asked her brother, and fortunately, neither of them answered her. 

"Anyway,” she continued, getting ahold of herself once more, “I found him in the crib with you and I was so angry."

She sighed. "So I wished the Goblin King would come and take you away. I never believed he really would." She shrugged. “It was a just a story. It made me feel better.” A pause, then "Until I went and found an empty crib the next time I went to check on you."

She looked at her brother with guilt-stricken eyes. "Of course, I immediately went to go find you." Another sigh, of relief this time. "Thank Goodness, I did. And then I asked the Goblin King to let you go."

Toby considered her. "I guess he did, since I'm here now." She blessed his calmness, that he could accept such an outrageous thing without blinking, without questioning her or her sanity.

"Well, eventually." She smiled. "I had to win you back first. But I did it." 

He smiled in return, smaller, more tentative, but there. "And this man you've married is him?" Quiet curiosity, with just a hint of… relief?

She nodded. "Yes. It's long and complicated, but, yes. I married the Goblin King."

To his credit, all he said was "And you're sure you're all right?"

She went and hugged her brother, hard, for believing her, or at least not questioning her. Or Jareth. "I am. He's not like that any more. He helps children now, he doesn't steal them. And we've been gloriously happy together."

"Then that's all I need to know," he said against her hair. When had her baby brother grown so tall?

O>>>\-----------> O>>>\-----------> O>>>\-----------> O>>>\-----------> O>>>\----------->

After that, they'd come back to visit her nephews and nieces, as her brother's family grew, but they lived most of their life in the Goblin Castle. It was cleaner now. Goblins were still goblins, but she'd also shown them the benefits of things like sanitation and clean living, and they'd decided that, on the whole, they preferred it to living in the urban equivalent of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Besides, it made their Queen happy, which made their King happy, which was a thing to be encouraged as much as possible.

O>>>\-----------> O>>>\-----------> O>>>\----------->

And so the years flew by, until the day when she began to see the gray among the white-blond and knew what he had done. What he had given up. For her. Or because of her. 

"Why?" was the first question between them, laying there like a ton of Blutos in the room. Suddenly Sarah remembered what they had pledged to each other at their wedding, and she shivered.

"Because I don't want to live without you." was the answer he gave.

"How very noble!" she snapped, both angry and hurt. "Did you ever think to ask what -I- wanted?" She'd thought they'd been beyond this for years.

"In this? No." The quiet intensity in his eyes frightened her, just a little, again for the first time in decades. "You don't understand. I have lived for _centuries_. I'd given up the hope of ever finding anyone to ease the loneliness of my life. Then this arrogant young girl comes barging into my castle, making demands." A pause. "Bewitching me." He slid a hand through her hair. "I realized I'd do anything for you. And that scared me. Terrified me. So I fought the attraction. Fought you. But you stayed. You stayed and you fought back. You wouldn't let me rule you." Confusion and longing and amazement in his voice.

Suddenly, a kiss, deep and passionate. "You have no idea how intoxicating that was," he said as he let her go.

"I think I do," she murmured as she drug him back down to continue the kiss.

When they'd finally agreed to come up for air, she said. "But that doesn't excuse you making such an important decision without me."

Instead of answer, he broke away, a few quick strides taking him across the room, where he turned, like an animal at bay. "Do you know how an immortal dies?" 

She shook her head, not really wanting to know the answer, but she could tell he needed to say it. 

"He gives up his immortality. He joins the rest of the world, and in so doing, becomes subject to the rules the rest of the world lives by. I did it because I want to be with you forever. In this life... and beyond."

She raised her head, proud and strong. "And if I say I want you to be here when I am gone? To live your life and remember me?"

He looked at her, and for a moment, she saw the owl's eyes looking back at her, not the man's. "I would say it is done.” He turned and walked away, leaving her with tears prickling her eyes, and the coldness in her heart at the tragedy she knew would one day come.

O>>>\----------->

She mopped his brow with a cold cloth. They'd made up, of course, and she'd learned to live with his decision. In return, he'd promised that, to the utmost of his power, he wouldn't leave her before she let him go. And while she'd never dreamed what it would one day mean, she'd agreed. After all, as he'd said, it was already done. And as she knew all too well, for the most part, takebacks were the exception, not the rule, in magick.

O>>>\-----------> O>>>\-----------> 

And then, what she'd feared most had happened. One day, he became ill, a strange fever that wouldn't break, no matter what any of them did. All he did was get worse and worse, while the goblins hovered around like the lost children they were and she did everything she could think of to try and help him get better. She even went back to her world and got medicines. Antibiotics, fever-reducers, anything that she thought would help.

None of it did. And all the while she grew more and more concerned, more and more desperate, as he grew weaker and weaker. 

"If you need me..." he'd ask each day, a whisper of his former voice.

"Always," she'd whisper back, to avoid showing him the tears she felt lurking just behind her words.

Nothing she did helped. She could see he was in pain, discomfort. She did the best she could, but finally, she bowed to fate, to the inevitable as it had been shown to her.

He hadn't said the words to her in days, been too far gone in a world of his own making to even know she was there. And now, this time, she could finally say the words she'd been hoping she'd never have to say.

"I need you. Always. But I am letting you go." Almost immediately, she saw his chest fall, rise, then fall again and rise no more.

She collapsed across the body, weeping. When she came back to herself, there was nothing but twisted bedsheets around her.

"Where is he?" she screamed. The goblins fled, fearing her rage, her wrath. When she did nothing more than collapse on the bed again, weeping hysterically, one of the braver goblins came to her, touched her hand cautiously. "Your Majesty." She started violently and the goblin shrank back before coming closer again as she did nothing more. "Your Majesty," he started again. "The King is gone." 

"I know that! Where is he?"

"His body vanished. Into the air. All magickal beings do it, when they die."

She wondered at a world that didn't even give her the comfort of a body to bury, but all she said was "Thank you." The goblin bowed nervously and slunk out.

She cried herself to sleep there in the bed that they had shared for so many years, the bed where he had breathed his last. And then, in dreams, he came to her. Not as he had been, the Goblin King, proud and tall, but as the white owl, who flew between the worlds with the ease that she had walked between buildings in her former life. 

"Sarah," he called, the owl's voice blending with his own.

"Jareth?" she called, struggling to wake.

"Don't wake!" he called again. "I am not there in the world where your body sleeps."

"Then where are you?" She looked wildly about her, trying to figure out where she was.

"Here. In the land of dreams. And I am offering you the chance to come with me. Remember, how I said I wanted to be with you forever? In that life and beyond? Here's your chance. Come with me." _Come with me. Come with me._ echoed into the distance.

She could not resist the call now any more than she ever had. "Yes, I'll come with you." she answered into the moonlight.

"If you need me…"

"Always." And a second white owl joined the first, flying off into the moonlit darkness.

O>>>\-----------> 

In the morning, when the goblins came to wake their mistress, she was nowhere to be found. They searched, but they never found her. They stopped looking when they saw two white owl feathers lying on the bed in an 'X' where there had been nothing a moment before.

"They're together again," Sir Didymus said, sniffing the air as he touched the feathers reverently.

"Forever." Hoggle replied, touching the ring she had given him, a lifetime ago, remembering the girl who had befriended them both for so long. 

“Forever.” Sir Didymus agreed, looking at Hoggle, an unreadable smile on his fox-like face.

And so it was.

O>>>\-----------> O>>>\----------->

**Author's Note:**

> ##### So there you go - a love lived and carried on. A one-shot, as far as I know. Written because Rioghna mentioned angst and I went there.
> 
> ##### Because I'm like that, that's why.
> 
> ##### If you liked this story, please leave a comment or a kudo - they really do help to keep the Muse(s) and me happy. And writing. :-) 
> 
> ##### -B!


End file.
